Manifest – Unclaimed Baggage

By: Luke Joseph

You know when you hear a title of something and you deem it fitting? The forth episode of “Manifest” was called Unclaimed Baggage and for good reason. It’s not just the stowaway in the episode that we find out about, but also the emotional baggage that the passengers on Flight 828 and their loved ones have had to face.

The episode begins with a flashback, but this time it focuses on Bethany (Mugga) the flight attendant. She’s hiding something, or rather someone, but we’ll get to that reveal soon. Ever since discovering the blood marker Saanvi (Parveen Kaur) has been trying to understand what is going on with her and the others. They’ve heard voices, but this time they not only hear the message as they see it as well when Saanvi spots footprints in the hospital leading her to have hallucinations of a woman made of stone. Feeling shaken by what she experienced, she reaches out to a fellow doctor and pretends her scan belongs to an unknown patient. The doctor diagnosis the CAT scan as schizophrenia and even mentions how it matches the brain activity of the patient down the hall who doctors believe have flown straight over the coco’s nest.  When Saanvi walks past the patient’s room she practically runs into him as he bolts by her screaming about Bethany.

Six hours in a car with your ex? That’s what Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) is about to experience when she is assigned to a stakeout with Jared (J.R. Ramirez). Being in close quarters with the one you wanted to marry might be tempting, but her focus is on the same woman made of stone that appears before her and says, “Save him.” Believing the undercover cop inside the warehouse is in danger she pleads to Jared that he has to trust her and it’s enough to get him to call all units to storm in.  Unfortunately, Michaela interpreted the call wrong; blowing the operation. Before she can take the fall, Jared admits the fault is on him. At the station Michaela looks on as Jared takes the heat for her mistake and it’s enough for her to reach out to Ben (Josh Dallas) and tell him how she wants to tell Jared the truth. After all, he’s getting punished for something he didn’t even do. However, Ben advices Michaela not to because it will only cause more attention to the passengers of Flight 828.

Needing more answers Saanvi seeks out Bethany thanks to Ben, who has been keeping tabs on every passenger. Surprised by the appearance, Saanvi explains how one of the patients in the psych ward had told her about Bethany. Rather than look surprised she seems relieved when she reveals that the patient was a stowaway on Flight 828. His name is Thomas (Sheldon Best) and he’s the boyfriend of Bethany’s cousin. Bethany had smuggled Thomas on the flight wanting to get him out of Jamaica because he was in danger for being gay. Bethany’s cousin had found his escape, but Thomas had been left behind because he couldn’t obtain a passport which resulted in Bethany doing the next best thing. When Flight 828 wheels had touched the runway, Thomas made his escape through the cargo hold making his escape and never to be seen again, until now. Yup, Thomas isn’t crazy.

Remember the whole emotional baggage mentioned earlier? Well, Ben isn’t having a good day. He’s trying to connect with his daughter Olive (Luna Blaise) and offer to help her with her driving, but she turns it down. He’s then greeted to the fact that Grace (Athena Karkanis) is close to losing everything. They’re in a deep financial crisis because their life insurance company has decided it’s time for them to pay up. Rather than be disappointed or angry at Grace’s choices, Ben is supportive and promises her they’ll figure it out because he’s here now. Ben proves to be husband goals when he finds a solution to their financial problems, but that’s not the only thing he finds. In the garage tucked away in a box he discovers pictures of Grace and Danny (Daniel Sunjata). It’s difficult it look at, but he forces himself to close the box and secretly hopes those memories remain just memories. Ben experiences a pick-me-up when he reveals his financial solution to Grace and for those short moments of celebrating with his wife he’s happy. Just as they’re about to really get to the celebration Grace gets a call from Olive asking if she can come pick her up at the mall. Ben immediately jumps at the chance to collect Olive hoping to finally share some father /daughter time.

“You don’t have to take the fall to protect me Jared,” Michaela later says after he admits he got suspended. But Jared believes differently. He knows that there is more to the story and he’s trying to get Michaela to open up to him but she’s not budging. He’s not angry, but he advises her that she needs to talk to someone because she needs help.

What’s worse than having your daughter avoiding you? I’ll take “what is being replaced for one hundred,” Alex. Yup, that feeling of hope Ben experienced to spend with his daughter turns to dread when the salesclerk admits that Olive has shoplifted. It gets worse when the salesclerk points out that Olive’s father is already here, Danny (Daniel Sunjata). The pictures of his wife and Danny had been painful but seeing Olive standing beside Danny as if he’s her dad is like a knife to the heart. Someone give this guy a hug, please. The car ride home is filled with silence while Ben is filled with memories of happier times he shared with his daughter.

“When I was fifteen I stole a boomerang. It was a really cool boomerang,” Ben begins. He tells Olive he wasn’t sure why he had done it, but it felt like everything had been out of whack and he believed by stealing the boomerang it would give him some sense of control. This is his way of telling Olive that he gets it and he’s giving her a free pass. It’s enough for her to finally have an honest discussion with him. The reason why she didn’t want to tell her dad about the shoplifting is because he still sees her as his little girl. She’s been a mess and difficult to handle and she needs her father to understand she’s no longer that little girl. “I want her to know whenever she needs help she can always call me no matter what,” Ben addresses to his daughter and it’s enough for them to reach an understanding. Who would have thought in the darkest of moments light would be found? Father and daughter have finally reunited but this time it’s for real.

Meanwhile, Bethany and Saanvi are planning to break Thomas out of the coco’s nest but there’s a problem. He not only broke out, but Director Vance (Darryl Edwards) is on his way to see him after finding out he was the stowaway on 828. Thankfully, after Ben tells Michaela about Saanvi’s vision, it’s enough to get her to head to the hospital just as Bethany and Saanvi exit the hospital and the women drive off to find Thomas. During the drive they begin to put the pieces together. Saanvi had been seeing the stone woman leave wet footprints while Michaela had seen the stone woman sporting wings and bingo Bethany pieces the rest of it together. It’s the angel that can be found at the top of the Bethesda fountain located in Central Park. “Thomas may not know New York, but he sure as hell knows Tony Kushner,” Bethany explains knowing this nod to Angels in America is where they will find Thomas. As luck would have it (or fate) they find Thomas sitting at the fountain hoping to be reunited with his love. He’s not crazy; he just freaked out when he was told what year it was. It was hard for him to process and even harder when he couldn’t find his boyfriend. It’s a lot to take in, but Michaela knows they need to get him out of sight and into hiding. She promises Thomas that if his boyfriend is still alive she will do everything in her power to find him and it’s enough to finally get Thomas to leave with them. They end up going to the boiler room that Kelly Taylor once owned and for now it will suffice in hiding Thomas.

Well, they aren’t actually hiding Thomas. They’re harboring a fugitive and when Ben learns of this he’s not that happy. He doesn’t believe that these callings are miracles. “They’re pulling you in deeper and deeper what if the voices are bad? You can’t just follow them blindly,” he says. It looks like brother and sister can’t come to an agreement because Michaela believes they don’t have a choice in the matter. Eventually, she finds herself back at the fountain. “What do you want from me,” she questions desperate for answers and Michaela we’re wondering the same thing, too.